Almost every site on WordPress, OpenCart or Joomla is PHP plus MySQL. And almost every plan promises to support them. The catch is that "PHP supported" tells you nothing: the version may be outdated, the memory allowance half of what you need, and database connections capped so tightly the site falls over on the first rush of visitors. Let's go through what actually needs checking.
Three settings decide almost everything: PHP version (8.1 and up), memory_limit (from 256 MB) and the concurrent process cap. The first two are usually visible in the panel; the third has to be dug out of the docs or asked of support — and it's the most common cause of a 508 error.
Which PHP version you need in 2026
PHP 7.4 is thoroughly obsolete: it no longer receives security updates and current CMS versions have dropped support. If a host still offers 7.x as its default, that tells you how long it's been since they touched their infrastructure.
The practical benchmark: 8.1 is the working minimum, 8.2 and 8.3 are the comfortable norm. The speed gain from 7.4 to 8.x is visible on real sites: page generation time on a typical WordPress install roughly halves. Moving to 8.x also closes a set of known vulnerabilities.
One important detail: having a new version available in the panel doesn't mean your site runs on it. Switching is usually manual, and plenty of sites sit on an old version for years simply because nobody pressed the button.
memory_limit: why a site shows a white screen
The most common hidden problem on cheap plans. PHP caps memory per process, and when a script runs out, it simply aborts. The visitor sees a blank page, the logs show a fatal out-of-memory error, and the host insists the server is running fine.
- 128 MB — enough for a landing page or a simple plugin-free blog
- 256 MB — the working minimum for WordPress, Joomla, OpenCart
- 512 MB — a store with a dozen modules, price imports, PDF generation
- 1 GB and up — heavy imports, image processing, complex reports
MySQL or MariaDB
A question that matters less than it seems. MariaDB is a MySQL fork, and for a typical CMS site they're interchangeable: same SQL, same drivers, performance differences within the margin of error. Both work fine with WordPress, OpenCart and any popular CMS.
What genuinely matters is the version. MySQL 8.0 and MariaDB 10.6+ handle complex queries noticeably better than MySQL 5.7 or MariaDB 10.3. If you run a store with filters, that difference is tangible. So don't ask "MySQL or MariaDB" — ask which version is installed.
Nine out of ten "unexplained site crashes" are either an insufficient memory_limit or a stubborn process cap. Neither figure tends to appear in the pricing table.
Ihor Jazov, ranking editor
The limits that don't appear on the banner
Here's what to clarify before paying — these numbers decide whether the site survives load or not.
- Entry processes: how many PHP requests run in parallel. Exceed it and visitors get a 508 error — the site is "down" though the server is alive
- Database connections (max_user_connections): exhaust them and the site shows "Error establishing a database connection"
- max_execution_time: how many seconds a script may run. For price imports, 30 seconds is often not enough
- Inode count (number of files): critical for sites with thousands of small files — cache, thumbnails, logs
- CPU limits: usually expressed as a percentage of a core or in abstract units
How to check your own hosting settings
The simplest route: create a file in your site root containing `<?php phpinfo();` and open it in a browser. You'll see the PHP version, memory_limit, max_execution_time and every active extension. Delete the file afterwards without fail — it exposes far too much about your server to outsiders.
For the database, phpMyAdmin does the job: the home page shows the server version and the variables section lists connection limits. WordPress offers an even easier path — the Site Health screen collects everything in one place along with recommendations.
When shared hosting stops coping
Shared hosting handles a brochure site, a blog and a small store perfectly well. The signs it's time for a VPS: recurring 508 errors at peak hours, the host complaining about limit overruns, a need for custom PHP settings or background jobs, and server response times creeping up under normal traffic.
On a VPS you control the configuration yourself: set memory_limit as high as needed, tune worker counts and pick the PHP version to suit your project. The price is having to administer the server — or paying for a managed service.
We've gathered providers running current PHP and MySQL versions in a separate ranking, showing which versions are available and what each plan includes.
